Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2h

Baker & Taylor, a giant in the library distribution industry, is done.
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Baker & Taylor Prepares Plan to Shut Down

At a town hall yesterday, B&T owner and CEO Aman Kochar announced that following the termination of the ReaderLink acquisition deal, he does not see a path to keep the library wholesaler in business.

www.publishersweekly.com

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Here are a few apps you can use to edit your next book.
blog.bookbaby.com/how-to-write...

Best Book Editing Software for Authors in 2025

Discover the best book editing software for writers. Compare tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Hemingway, and more to polish your manuscript.

blog.bookbaby.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Did you know that antique possessive pronouns like hisn and yourn are still hanging on in the backwoods?
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Hisn, Hern, Yourn, Ourn

John in Tucson, Arizona, remembers his grandfather used the possessives hisn, hern, yourn, and ourn, as in Those cattle are hisn or That house is hern. These archaic forms originated hundreds of…

waywordradio.org

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

There's a copyright infringement lawsuit going on right now which has nothing to do with AI, but could result in over $7 billion in damages.
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An Important Copyright Lawsuit Not About AI

Though AI has dominated the copyright news cycle, one of the most important ongoing cases involves two real estate giants and regular human-created images.

www.plagiarismtoday.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Move over, NFTs - Microsoft is building a marketplace for publishers to license content to AI companies.
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Scoop: Microsoft looks to build AI marketplace for publishers

Copilot would be the first buyer in the Publisher Content Marketplace.

www.axios.com

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

2025.40: The AI Slop Era Arrives
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2025.40: The AI Slop Era Arrives

The best Stratechery content from the week of October 6, 2025, including the arrival of the AI Slop Era, what “China Hawk” really means, and Steve Ballmer and the Clippers catastrophe.

stratechery.com

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Weekly News: 29th September 2025
authorhelp.uk/weekly-news-...

Weekly News: 29th September 2025 - Author Help

Every week, we post a curated list of links that authors should find useful or interesting. Here are this week’s links: Book a FREE consultation to find out how we can help you publish your book.

authorhelp.uk

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Weekly News: 29th September 2025
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Weekly News: 29th September 2025 - Author Help

Every week, we post a curated list of links that authors should find useful or interesting. Here are this week’s links: Book a FREE consultation to find out how we can help you publish your book.

authorhelp.uk

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Anthropic settlement class now searchable (This week in books)
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Anthropic settlement class now searchable (This week in books)

This week! Books! Anthropic Copyright Settlement Website – If your book was pirated by Anthropic and you or your publisher registered your copyright within five years, you may be in the settlement…

nathanbransford.com

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 2d

Friday’s Endnotes – 10/03/25
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Friday’s Endnotes – 10/03/25 – Copyhype

In the fight over AI, copyright is America’s competitive weapon — “China’s leading model, DeepSeek, was reportedly trained in part on stolen intellectual property from U.S. models and creators. If…

www.copyhype.com

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 9d

Anne R Allen shares 12 ways not to start a novel.
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12 Ways Not to Start a Novel

How do we start a novel? So much needs to go in an opener. But some openers have been done to death. So here are 12 ways not to start a novel

annerallen.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 9d

Brenda W. Clough shares estate planning advice for authors.
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This is important, otherwise an author's work might suffer the same fate as Arthur Conan Doyle's estate, which ended up under the control of distant relatives (not descendants, even).

Estate Planning for Authors and Creatives - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association

by Brenda W. Clough. Facing your own mortality isn’t fun, but if you’re a writer or creative, ignoring it could leave your intellectual property in chaos. This article walks you through the essential…

www.sfwa.org

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 9d

Here's an update on the Anthropic piracy settlement from Victoria Strauss.
writerbeware.blog/2025/09/26/b...

Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: An Update for Authors - Writer Beware

BACKGROUND A year ago, a group of authors filed suit against AI company Anthropic over its creation of an enormous library of digitized books to train its Claude LLMs, arguing that because Anthropic…

writerbeware.blog

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 9d

The Library of Congress brings our attention to 5 copyright resources you might not know exists.

Five Copyright Office Resources You May Not Know Exist | Copyright

The U.S. Copyright Office provides a wide range of resources to support creators, educators, and other copyright users, but some of the most valuable tools can fly under the radar. Here are five…

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 9d

But he's still significantly wrong if you use AI to do things you can't like analyze your story for the tropes and themes (see Autocrit).

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 9d

Nathan Bransford warns that you can rely on AI at your peril, and he does have a point when it comes to generative AI (using it weakens your creative muscles).
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Rely on A.I. at your peril

Here’s my problem whenever I try to play a game of chess against a computer. Inevitably, I start up a game and plug along just fine until, at a certain point, I get a bit stuck and feel unsure of my…

nathanbransford.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 10d

Weekly News: 22nd September 2025
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Rely on A.I. at your peril

Here’s my problem whenever I try to play a game of chess against a computer. Inevitably, I start up a game and plug along just fine until, at a certain point, I get a bit stuck and feel unsure of my…

nathanbransford.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 10d

Trump allies buying TikTok (This Week in Books)
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Trump allies buying TikTok (This Week in Books)

This week! Books! First up, a happy plug. It’s always so exciting to see a book I’ve worked on in manuscript form come to fruition, let alone when it becomes a freakin’ Jenna Hager Bush Today Show…

nathanbransford.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 10d

Friday’s Endnotes – 09/26/25
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Friday’s Endnotes – 09/26/25 – Copyhype

Transatlantic Comments on the Anthropic AI Settlement — “Judge Alsup’s preliminary approval at the US District Court of the Northern District of California sees Anthropic paying US$1.5 billion to…

www.copyhype.com

Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 16d

Victoria Strauss shares more details about new AI marketing scams.
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Return of the Nigerian Prince Redux: Beware Book Club and Book Review Scams - Writer Beware

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a rising and extremely prolific marketing scam that I’ve been able to trace back to operators in Nigeria. Using highly personalized (AI-generated) email solicitations…

writerbeware.blog

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 16d

Bookbaby has several examples of book marketing that worked.
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Examples of Book Advertising That Drive Sales

See real author success stories with smart book ads. Learn proven strategies for selling more copies and boosting visibility as a self-published author.

blog.bookbaby.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 16d

Kobo now supports exporting annotations.
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Kobo Now Supports Exporting Annotations From Kobo eBooks

It looks like Kobo is in the process of finally adding support for exporting annotations from Kobo ebooks, with support for exporting notes and highlights in

blog.the-ebook-reader.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 16d

Johann Christian Bach's 1777 lawsuit against sheet music publishers marked the first time that music was covered by copyright under English law.

The 18th-century legal case that changed the face of music copyright law

When Johann Christian Bach sued unauthorized publishers in 18th-century London, he won legal recognition for musical works as intellectual property. According to Eyal Brook, his victory still echoes…

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 16d

Trump filed a frivolous lawsuit against Penguin RandomHouse and the NYTimes this week. buff.ly/Bzes3T5

The lawsuit was thrown out days later.
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Trump Sues Penguin Random House, ‘New York Times’ for $15 Billion

President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit accusing the New York Times and four of its reporters, as well as Penguin Random House, which published the book Lucky Loser, of trying to undermine his…

www.publishersweekly.com

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Nate Hoffelder @natehoffelder.com · 16d

The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending September 19, 2025
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The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending September 19, 2025

Among the week's headlines: The Trump Administration's censorship efforts are ramping up; Delaware passes a Freedom to Read Law; why an Alabama library is still being denied state funding; and a look…

www.wordsandmoney.com